Wealth management

Nuveen Investments, a Chicago money management company, announced Monday that it had agreed to buy Santa Barbara Asset Management.

Sentry Insurance, a Stevens Point, Wis., mutual company, said Friday that it had agreed to buy Viking Insurance, a provider of specialty auto insurance, from Royal & SunAlliance for an undisclosed price.

Wire houses are losing customers, assets, and, according to some analysts, their advisers as more affluent investors turn to independent channels for advice.

Federated Investors Inc. has reported a 25% decline in second-quarter profit partly because of a charge the Pittsburgh investment management company had to take related to improper trading.

Fixed annuity base rates slipped below a bank CD rate average this month for the first time in at least a decade, and the annuity product's sales through banks are seen as slumping in response.

Janus Capital Group announced Thursday that second-quarter profit fell 80%, to $25.7 million, as the Denver money manager continued to have substantial outflows.

Morgan Stanley, which had struggled to increase the size and productivity of its broker force, told its employees Thursday that it would lay off about 1,000 of the lowest-producing brokers in its force of about 10,000.

Investors who work with financial advisers are increasingly concerned about retirement income planning rather than accumulation-focused investment planning, says Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., and this could stimulate sales of products designed to guarantee income for life.

Affiliated Managers Group Inc., a Boston fund company, said Wednesday that it had expanded assets under management by 4.5% during the second quarter, to nearly $138 billion.

Pershing LLC, Bank of New York Co.'s clearing services arm, says it hopes to develop assets by cross-selling fee-based services from several bank units through the advisory channel.

Bank of America Global Treasury Services plans to offer Health Savings Accounts in the commercial marketplace in time for the fall benefits enrollment cycle.

Axa Equitable Life Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Axa Financial Inc., said Tuesday that it had launched Retirement Strategies, a 401(k) product designed for small to midsize businesses.

Pershing LLC, a unit of Bank of New York Co., said Monday that it has added five executives to its registered investment adviser business.

The interim president of Independent Financial Marketing Group, Sun Life Financial’s U.S. third-party marketing subsidiary, says the company will continue aggressively adding bank and credit union clients as it hunts for new leadership.

The new head of Commerce Bancorp Inc.'s wealth management unit said that despite industrywide consolidation and tepid markets, he expects his unit will grow at a faster pace than the parent company.

American International Group Inc. of New York has hired a Deloitte & Touche partner as the chief financial officer of its U.S. property-casualty insurance unit.